ART HISTORY


BUDDHIST ART



  • Buddhist architecture. Buddhist religious architecture developed in the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE. In accordance with changes in religious practice, stupas were gradually incorporated into chaitya-grihas (prayer halls).
  • The earliest Buddhist construction of significance was the stupa, but these were sculpture not structure. Probably the most significant site is at Sanchi where as well as having one of the best preserved Indian stupas, the full range of Buddhist art and architecture from the third century BC to the twelfth AD can be studied here. 
Complex of Buddhist monuments

  • The complex of Buddhist monuments on top of the hill at Sanchi in central India is unique. As well as having one of the best preserved Indian stupas, the full range of Buddhist art and architecture from the third century BC to the twelfth AD can be studied here and was thought to have been laid by King Asoka (c. 273 – 236 BC) with the building of the main stupa, the hill-top outline showing the arrangement of buildings.
                                  
  • In the first century B.C., India’s artists, who had worked in the     perishable media of brick, wood, thatch, and bamboo, adopted  stone on a very wide scale.
  •      Stone railings and gateways, covered with relief sculptures, were added to stupas.
  •    Favourite themes were events from the historic life of the Buddha, as well as from his previous lives, which were believed to number 550. 
  •     The latter tales are called Jatakas and often include popular legends adapted to Buddhist teachings.
              

  •     Buddhism was introduced to China, it also found expression in the traditional Chinese art forms of calligraphy and painting. 
  •     these two art forms have long been ranked the highest in the hierarchy of fine art in China, and calligraphy and paintings with Buddhist themes most tellingly illustrate the interplay between Buddhism and Chinese culture.
  •      Over the past 30 years, Fan Keqin, who is based in Shanghai, has amassed an impressive collection of Buddhist-themed Chinese paintings and calligraphy and dating from the Tang dynasty (618–907) all the way to the Republic Period (1912–49), were created by some of the most influential Buddhist monks, scholar officials, and professional artists throughout Chinese history.

   CHARACTERISTIC OF BUDDHIST ART
·         Buddhist Architecture
a) Stupa - mound shape shrine with no interior
Reliquary - Worshippers gain spiritual merit through being in close proximity to its contents.
·         Buddhist Painting + Sculpture
a) Buddha’s with compact pose with little negative space
- Often seated
- Drapery varies
b) Generally frontal, symmetrical, have nimbus (halo)
c) Bodhisattvas : helpers usually near Buddha
d) Buddha’s actions + feelings are revealed by hand gestures mudras
e) Head has top knot, Ushnisha, and hair series of tight curls
f)Yakshas ( males ) + vakshid ( female ): nature spirits





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